On Top of the World
by Kurohane Ookami
Summary: Scarlett Grey is a little bit of everything. Cursebreaker, Bounty Hunter, Animagus... and let's not forget she terrorizes Sphinxes because it's fun. But she's got problems like everyone else, and it's just a coincidence that her problems end in Weasley. Slight AU, M for language.
1. Chapter 1

"Bill, where the bloody hell did you hide my exploding ginger cookies?"

The redheaded male smirked to himself, trailing over to the package of said cookies and slowly drawing one out to munch on while he was attempting to finish up some paperwork from a few days prior. It wasn't necessarily his fault that they tasted so bloody brilliant. He would, however, admit to figuring out where they were kept, but that was about the extent of his confession.

"If you ate them, I swear to God I'll toss you into the ruins." the distinctly feminine voice continued as more rummaging was heard.

"You need to think of new threats, Scarlett." the Weasley called over his shoulder.

"And _you_-" the voice replied from next to his ear, a hand snaking out and grabbing the package of cookies, "-need to stop stealing my food, William."

"Not my fault you have the best snacks, Scar." Bill replied innocently, holding up his hands defensively. He could still remember the last time that she'd gotten irritated with him stealing her food. He'd had bruises for weeks, and he was almost positive that his pinky fingers were never going be able to bend quite right again.

"Whatever. What are you even doing in here? The pyramids are that way." the woman replied, crossing her arms as he turned to face her.

Scarlett was well shaped, with wide hips and a similarly wide chest, and her curly blue hair was currently up in a high tail that trailed down her back. Given that it _was_ Egypt, she was wearing a pair of shorts that fell to her thighs, a flannel shirt, and her usual pair of dragon-hide boots. Not that he was complaining, of course. He appreciated the view as much as the next person who happened to cross paths with her.

"Bill? Earth to Bill..." Scar muttered, prodding the Weasley's cheek with a long nailed finger. "You're absolutely _sure_ that that you've got enough water in your system? We wouldn't want you wandering off and getting eaten by a Sphinx now, would we?"

"Ha ha. Very funny."

"Hey, I'm not going to confirm or deny anything." the blue haired woman shrugged.

"You're insufferable."

"Atta boy, Bill. Using those big words." Scarlett cooed. "Now, come along. I think we've got a nasty one in the eastern segment that I don't want to take on without my _ever so charming_ partner to back me up."

"Again- insufferable."

"And yet we've made it three years without killing each other." the blue haired woman quipped.

"Shut it."

* * *

She'd been right.

There had been something particularly unpleasant in the eastern segment of their map, and of course, he was the one who'd had to deal with the werewolf-like mummies that had attacked them. Not that Scarlett didn't do anything- she was the one blowing them to smithereens with her wand while he tried to figure out how to get rid of the curse that was animating them.

He'd been coated in mummy parts, to say the least, and it was highly unpleasant. And who even knew that werewolves _could_ be mummies? Wasn't there some kind of law against that?

He was currently drying himself off after an extremely satisfying shower, in which he'd decided that he was never going to let Scarlett near mummies with her wand _ever again_. As he towelled off his long hair, there was an all too familiar screech, closely followed by a heavy thud from the other room. Brows furrowing, he wandered into the living room, clad in only a pair of low riding jeans, towel slung over his shoulder, only to blink as he realized what the grey mass on the coffee table was.

"Errol?

The elderly owl wheezed out a hoot from his pitiful position and offered him a leg, a letter loosely tied to said limb. Moving over, Bill untied it with practised ease and unrolled the parchment, eyes wandering over his mother's familiar handwriting.

_Bill, _

_How are you? I hope you're doing well in Egypt- I know we haven't seen you since we came to visit a couple of years ago, but I am a mother and I do have to ask these things. _

_I'm writing to tell you that your father has managed to get us tickets for the World Cup! Of course, I understand if you're busy with work, but it is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you know how lovely it would be to see you again. Just send Errol back with how many tickets you'll be needing- if you're bringing along that lovely young woman you've been telling me about- and we'll see you next Saturday. _

_And yes, I expect you to arrive a couple days early so we can actually interact with you before you head back to Egypt again, love. _

_Keep in touch,_

_Mum._

The eldest Weasley remained silent for a long moment, then sighed as he weighed out his options. On the one hand, he could decline the offer and risk his mother physically coming to Egypt, in which Scarlett would find out and then hex him into the middle of next year, or he could just go along with it.

At this point, going along with it was sounding a hell of a lot better than the former option.

"I guess that means I'll be headed back to England, then." he muttered, moving over to the desk to write a reply. However, just as he was about to put quill to parchment, there was a screech of terror from outside the tent, closely followed by manic cackling.

Turning to look out the front of the large tent, Bill watched with vague shock as a Sphinx thundered by, followed by none other than Scarlett, who also happened to be bellowing insults at it while it fled.

_"TRY AND EAT ME, WILL YOU!? HUH? HUH!? COME BACK HERE AND TRY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU! I'LL SHOW YOU A HEX! TURN AROUND AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN, YOU RUDDY SHE-BITCH SANDCASTLE!"_

...Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to take Scarlett with him after all. A break from all this sand could do them both some good.

* * *

"Hey Scar..."

"Yep?" the blue haired woman asked, pausing in her book to glance up and over at Bill. "What do you need, William?"

The Weasley held up his mother's letter as an explanation, and the woman blinked, looking slightly confused for a moment.

"Nobody died, right? Nothing negative happen in any way, shape or form that I need to be concerned about?"

"Opposite, actually." he replied, resisting the urge to grin. "Mum wants to know how many tickets Dad's going to be picking up from the Ministry for the World Cup."

Scarlett was quiet for a long moment, lips parted in a small 'o'. Then, slowly, a bright smile lit up her face as she realized what exactly it was that the redhead was asking her.

"Merlin's beard- really? You want to know if _I_ want to go?" she squealed.

"That's the general idea, yeah." Bill rolled his eyes.

"Of course I want to go!" Scarlett grinned. "When are we leaving?"

"Next Saturday. Mum wants to socialize. Is that fine with you?"

"Bill, your mother's known about me for what, two years? I think it's about time that I actually get to meet with her."

"So...two tickets?"

"Damn straight, Weasley!" Scarlett said mockingly, punching his shoulder. At the same time, she fished the package of exploding ginger cookies from his jacket pocket and raised a brow.

"How do you-?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Scarlett sniffed primly, already beginning to munch on the cookies. "And for crying out loud, stop stealing my food, you thief."


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday dawned bright and early, and unfortunately for Scarlett, Bill wanted to leave early.

As in, before breakfast kind of early.

So when the redhead went into her room (or nest, as she liked to call it), he almost lost his fingers as the woman growled and snapped at him in her semi-concious state. Luckily enough for him, she didn't sleep with her wand. He would have really been in trouble then.

"Scar..." he muttered, prodding her again. "Come on. You know there's a time difference, and by the time we get there Mum'll be making breakfast."

"Too. Bloody. Early." the blue haired woman moaned, shifting to reveal grey eyes that stared balefully up at him. "I am never going on a trip with you again."

"You can kill me later. Come on, the port-key's waiting."

* * *

"Mum? We're here." Bill called as he led the way into the Burrow.

Scarlett decided immediately that she loved everything about the home- there was something so undeniably magical about everything. Like the clock on the wall that was currently displaying all of the Weasley's images on what appeared to be spoons. As she watched, Bill's clicked into place by the 'Home' position.

"Bill, is that you?" a woman's voice asked from another room. A moment later, a plump, redheaded witch bustled into the room, clapped her hands, and pulled Bill into a tight hug.

"Oooh...I missed you."Molly Weasley cooed before pulling back. "Your hair's too long, of course, but I can trim it for you later."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Mum, you're not trimming anything. It's fine the way it is."

"Are you sure? Just a couple inches here-"

"Mum. My hair's fine."

Molly huffed, looking like she wanted to say something more, but then she noticed Scarlett standing awkwardly to one side.

"Oh, and you must be Scarlett! Bill's told me all about you in his letters! The Animagus, right?"

Scarlett allowed herself to be pulled into a tight hug, and over Molly's head she shot a questioning and mildly concerned look, to which he replied with a shrug.

"Uh, yes. I'm an Animagus." she replied carefully.

"Don't worry dear, it's all fine by me." Molly said, all smiles and warmth. "Just try not to scare me half to death in the morning, would you?"

"Uh..."

"Mum, I think you've gone and spooked her more than enough for now. Are we too late for breakfast?" Bill broke in, saving Scarlett from what was sure to be a long and very awkward conversation.

"No, actually. You're right on time. Boys! Breakfast is ready!" the shorter woman bellowed up the staircase before leading the pair into the kitchen. As she did so, Bill leaned over to Scarlett and whispered, "I should probably warn you that this is going to be one of the most entertaining breakfasts you'll have ever been to."

* * *

Meeting the rest of the Weasleys, (or rather, who was there, considering the twins would be getting back late that night from a friends and Mr Weasley had already left for work) wasn't as bad as Scarlett thought.

Charlie looked like the twins, Bill mentioned: apparently shorter and more compact than Percy and Ron, who were 'like saplings- really freaking tall and thin'. He had a strong jaw and a friendly face, which probably looked about as weather-beaten as her and Bill's own, as well as so many freckles it looked like he was several shades darker than he actually was. Along with this, it only took Scarlett about thirty seconds to notice the large, shiny burn on one of Charlie's arms and inquire about it, to which the dragon-keeper was all too happy to oblige a story.

Percy was...well, she woudn't exactly say that he was rude, exactly. More haughty than anything else. He was tall and thin, and his red hair appeared to be groomed in a just-so sort of way. He didn't say much either, Scarlett noticed, but kept more to himself than the others.

Then there was Ron. Lanky, clearly going through a growth-spurt, and lacking manners in etiquette and table manners. He even tried to hold a conversation with her while chewing his food. Now, Scarlett knew very well that her own table manners weren't perfect, but they were certainly better than this and she made her opinion known by turning in the other direction.

Ginny, in Scarlett's eyes, was one day going to be the ruler of the roost. It was very clear in the way that her uncharacteristically brown eyes studied the rest of the family, as well as the way she held herself and spoke to her mother every time that Molly asked her something.

Really, in a very strange way, it was the blue haired woman's way of approving the family.

"So, Scarlett, what exactly is it that you do for a living?" Percy asked, eying the blue haired woman up from his seat across the table.

"Scarlett?" Ron frowned. "Isn't that a little weird, considering your hair's all-"

"Trust me, I am well aware of what color my hair is." Scarlett said dryly. "My mother thought it would be hilarious."

Ron looked as though he wanted to say something more, but a sharp to the ribs from Charlie put that thought to rest.

"And as for your question, Percy, I'm a Bounty Hunter and part-time Cursebreaker." Scarlett said offhandedly.

"Bloody hell! Really?" Ron gaped. Scarlett shot him a deadpan look.

"No, I'm secretly a fairy ballerina and it is my life's work to take over Gringotts and then become the Goblin Queen." she replied, straight faced.

Bill snorted, choking on his mouthful of orange juice.

"Don't choke, William." Scarlett commented vaguely, picking at her hash browns.

"Little too late for that one." Charlie sniggered.

"I see." Percy said, looking interested. "What exactly is it that you do as a Bounty Hunter?"

"Well, I get an assignment from one of the Ministries, usually every couple of weeks or so, and I get sent the file on the person I'm going after, along with a port-key to their last known location. After that, I basically hunt them down and drag them back to their Ministry before heading back to Cursebreaking."

"hmm...interesting." the middle Weasley hummed to himself. "Have you met any of the other Ministers?"

"Uhhh...the Russian branch, yeah. Olyva Vollokson. She's been the Minister there for about as long as I can remember." Scarlett shrugged.

"Really? What's she like?" Percy's eyes were positively shining.

"Oh boy. Now she's done it." someone groaned.

"She's like any other person. A little brisk, maybe, but then again, it comes with the job description. Other than that, she's friendly. We had tea not too long ago; I brought in a witch who thought Thestrals didn't exist."

Ron, at this point, had thankfully gone with gaping at Scarlett rather than stuffing his face, but the blue haired woman had yet to decide which was worse.

"That's wicked." Ginny piped up finally.

"Pretty, yeah." Scarlett agreed, turning her full attention back to her food as conversation resumed at the table.

* * *

"So, you work with dragons. I'd say that's one hell of a dream job and more." Scarlett commented to Charlie as the pair worked on the dishes after breakfast. "How'd that one happen?"

The male shrugged, a grin crossing his features.

"I'm not even entirely sure." he admitted. "I always did pretty well in Care of Magical Creatures, and to be honest, I've always thought dragons were the best. So I did some research after I left Hogwarts, owled a few people, and the next thing I know I'm offered a position in Romania."

"Wow. Talk about easiest job-hunt _ever_." the blue haired woman whistled.

"Ha. As if. What about you? How'd you end up in Bounty Hunting _and_ Cursebreaking?"

Scarlett was silent for a moment, focusing on the thought as she attempted to actually pinpoint the exact reason why she'd gone down the less beaten path.

"You know, I don't actually remember." she blinked. "Weird. But you know, it was kind of the same for me. I liked the more...dangerous...occupations from the start, thought they were awesome, and somehow, the next thing I know I'm hired."

"Well, at least you know that you like that kind of thing. But honestly, I'm a little curious; how did you end up with Bill?, exactly?"

Scarlett let out a short cackle before coughing and looking a little too innocent.

"My first partner took off after a year on the job with me. Guess the stress of working with me got to him after a while, I guess. Then again, I don't usually play well with others. Especially not if they're selling the cursed items we're paid to hunt down and destroy." she shrugged.

"Well, that explains why no one knows where he went." Bill said from the doorway, causing Scarlett to let out a surprised squeal and almost drop the plate she was holding.

"Don't do that!" she scolded, holding a hand to her chest. "Merlin, Bill. I'd like to live a little longer, if you don't mind."

The eldest Weasley rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and raising a brow. "As if something like that would scare you. You chased a Sphinx across the desert because it tried to eat you."

"...Good point." Scarlett nodded, shifting her weight onto one hip. "But anyway, yeah. That's why no one knows where good ol' Robbie went. It's all hushy hush, and really? Could you imagine why the Goblins would want that to stay quiet? Think of all that..._paperwork_."

The males laughed at the blue haired woman, and Bill grabbed a towel to help Scarlett dry and put away the still warm dishes as the topic moved on to other things.

* * *

Sunday dawned bright and early for the Weasley home.

Charlie woke early, sitting up and stretching as the first rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains, and then noticed a weight sitting on his bed that he was fairly certain hadn't been there the night before.

Glancing down, his eyes met with those of a golden furred _monkey_.

"_WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!_" he yelped, leaping off the bed and blindly groping for his wand. "Bill! Theres's a _monkey_ on my _bed!_"

Bill mumbled something from underneath his mound of blankets before slowly sitting up and taking notice of the monkey. He then proceeded to roll his eyes and yawn before burrowing back underneath the covers.

"Jus' Scar." he muttered.

"What do you mean, it's just Scar?!" Charlie screeched.

The golden furred monkey raised its paws to its ears and gave him a distinctly unimpressed look, and then shifted into an equally disgruntled looking blue haired woman, sitting cross-legged on his bed, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear and a baggy shirt. A mess of curls stuck out in every direction, and given that her hands were still over her ears, she almost looked downright murderous.

"He means that it's just me." she grumbled. "No need to shout this bloody early in the bloody fracking morning."

"You're an Animagus?"

"Is there some kind of twisted echo in here?" Scarlett asked grumpily. "Yes, I'm an Animagus. I don't think I'd be capable of Transfiguring myself into an animal otherwise, idiot."

"You should go downstairs like that. Give Perce and Ron a fright." Bill said, sitting back up and looking slightly more alert than he had been previously. "It'd be worth the looks on their faces."

"Hmmm...sounds like a plan to me." Scarlett shrugged, looking just a tad more friendly as she hopped off Charlie's bed and made her way over to the door.

"By the way Charlie, you scream like a girl."she cooed before closing the door behind her.

There was momentary silence. Then-

"Is this a normal thing? The whole 'monkey appearing on your bed' thing?"

Bill shrugged. "Pretty much."

"I am so sorry for your lack of sanity."

* * *

_"AGH! MUM! THERE'S A MONKEY IN MY ROOM!" _Percy shrieked, barrelling into the kitchen and almost causing Molly to drop the hot pan she was carrying.

Considering that she knew there was an Animagus currently under her roof, however, Molly decided that the best course of action would be to go along with the antics that had begun. For now, anyway.

"That's nice, dear." she replied calmly, navigating around her son to put the pan into the sink.

"Mum. There is a _monkey_ in my _room_."

"Mhm. I'm sure that wonderful, Percy." Molly replied again, moving to put a large plate of bacon on the table. As she did this, the golden furred monkey that was terrorizing the household came sauntering down the stairs and up to the table, climbing up a chair to snag a piece of bacon for itself. Percy froze, looking as though he wanted to flee, but MOlly smiled and greeted the creature with a cheery good morning.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you go wake the rest of the boys up? Breakfast is ready."

The monkey straightened and saluted to the monarch of the Weasleys, then turned its gaze to Percy, rearing back on its hind legs and smacking its paws against its chest in a come-and-get-me manner before chittering and darting back upstairs.

Percy turned to his mother, who had already turned to finishing setting the table, before finally taking a seat.

There were just some things you didn't want to know the answers to, and this was one of those things.

It was only a couple of minutes later that Ron came stumbling down the stairs, his face pale as if he'd seen a ghost, closely followed by a very smug looking monkey.

"Good morning dear. Sleep well?" MOlly asked, putting down the last two plates on the table.

"Mum, there's-" Ron started, only to be cut off by Percy.

"She's aware." the elder Weasley said dryly.

"But-" Ron appeared at a loss for words.

"Yeah. I thought the same. Bacon?" Percy inquired, holding up the serving plate.

"Uh...sure."

The monkey squawked once at Molly before heading back upstairs, no doubt to get Ginny, the twins and the elder pair that were sharing a room.

Ten minutes later, the twins came down, closely followed by Bill and Charlie, with Ginny and her room-mate Hermione, who had arrived at some point the night before. Scarlett was nowhere to be found- the general assumption was that the blue haired woman had slept through the commotion, and no one was really going to change that opinion.

The monkey- a Golden Tamarin, Bill corrected- seated itself on George's shoulder, accepting the food that the twins fed it and gnawing away at it contentedly, ignoring the strange looks being sent its way by Percy and Ron. It was probably a good thing that Arthur was at work, or he too would have fallen victim to the strange happenings of that morning.

Mind, the creature did eventually leave, clambering out the open window and disappearing into the long grass surrounding the house.

Several minutes later, Scarlett stumbled down the stairs, looking as though she'd just crawled out of a dark hole, and took a seat next to Bill, who immediately handed her a cup of coffee and a plate. The blue haired woman dug in, ignoring the looks she was receiving, and eventually conversation resumed. But a couple of people couldn't help but wonder how she'd managed to sleep through all of that without even stirring.

* * *

The rest of the day passed quietly in comparison to the chaotic morning the Burrow had experienced. There wasn't much to do, either, which was how Scarlett had ended up de-gnoming the garden.

Now, all the rest of the Weasleys generally avoided the garden, mostly because the gnomes that resided there were particularly vicious. After all, Arthur thinking that they were interesting little creatures had led to him allowing them to stay, so when Molly finally decided that it was time for them to go, it got ugly, quickly. Needless to say, no one had really been able to enjoy the garden for the last several months, and given that Scarlett was bored...

Well...it was going to get ugly.

"Mum, where's Scar?" Bill asked as he came thumping down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Molly was cleaning. Again. "I can't find her anywhere."

"She's in the backyard, dear. De-gnoming the garden. Such a nice girl to offer. If only the boys were so considerate."

Bill's eyes widened. "Did you say de-gnoming the garden?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Mum-" Bill began, only to freeze as a roar sounded from the backyard.

"What on earth was that?" Molly gasped, rising to her feet.

"The _weedhacker_." Bill whispered, eyes widening. "Mum, you don't realize the monster that you've just created."

"The what?" Molly asked, turning to the window just in time to see pieces of gnomes spatter against it.

Molly shrieked, jumping away from the window, and turned to her eldest son as manic cackling rose over the sound of the small motor.

"I warned you." Bill raised his hands defensively.

* * *

Scarlett was still de-gnoming the garden when the selected group went to collect the infamous Harry Potter from his relatives house- weedhacker free, of course. Apparently her way of de-gnoming the garden was a little too violent for Molly, and had caused much wariness among the rest of the family that had watched her decimate the gnome ranks.

She was still at it when they arrived back, too, but there was definitely something wrong. Well, maybe not wrong as in someone dying, but someone was in trouble.

Or someones, as she heard Arthur let the twins have it.

"You dropped it on purpose!" he shouted. You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet-"

The was a muffled reply, followed by roars of laughter, and then Arthur was shouting again.

"It isn't funny! That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons-"

After that, it was a pretty good indication that nothing good was going to happen if she ventured indoors.

Casting a silencing charm around her, Scarlett got back to work with a vengeance.

Just because she was weedhacker free didn't mean that she couldn't hex the bastards into the middle of next week.

It was a solid twenty minutes later that Bill and Charlie came out into the yard, and it was right about then that she removed the silencing charm and straightened, giving the gnome in her grasp a hefty kick to send it on its way.

"Hey guys. I take it it's a good bet that it's safer out here?" she inquired, giving the Burrow a wary look.

"You could say that." Charlie muttered. "Mum's on the warpath."

"Do I want to know what happened?"

"Probably not." they chorused.

"Okay then..." Scarlett raised a brow. "That brings me to my next question- what are you doing out here?"

"We're now eating dinner out here." Bill rolled his eyes. "Apparently, we're the only ones Mum trusts enough to set up the tables."

"Hey Bill..." Charlie said slowly, a grin spreading over his face. "I've got an idea."

"What?"

"Mum never said how quickly we needed to be done setting up the tables._ Accio table!"_

Scarlett shrieked as the rickety looking picnic table came flying towards her, and she dove for the grass a split second before it would have taken her head off.

"Oh, it's on!" she hissed, a positively evil gleam in her eyes as she leapt back to her feet and summoned her own picnic table, hers and Charlie's tables colliding with a resounding crack.

Fred and George were the first to be drawn out by the noise, followed by Ginny and Hermione, and then Harry.

The trio (comprised of Bill, Charlie and herself) found three tables to battle with, even though two was plenty for dinner. The goal, Scarlett guessed, was to either knock the other's tables out of the air or beat them until they were mere splinters, but at the moment, she didn't need to concern herself with either. She was holding her own rather spectacularly, after all.

"Will you keep it down?" Percy bellowed from his window suddenly.

"Sorry Perce. How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?" Bill grinned back.

"Very badly." the middle Weasley retorted peevishly before slamming the window shut again.

The three chuckled, deciding that that would be their cue to actually get their original task done, and carefully directed the tables back down to the grass. Of course, the boys fixed up the table legs that they'd broken, while Scarlett conjured up tablecloths to flutter down on the smooth tops. The fun was over for now- but there would no doubt be plenty of time for silliness later.

By seven, all of Molly's excellent home cooking was on the table and the entirety of the group was sitting down to eat, comprised of all nine Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Scarlett.

There was small talk, but Percy, who was telling Arthur all about something that had to do with the Ministry, was definitely the most boring conversation that the blue haired woman had to listen to yet.

Rolling her eyes, Scarlett turned towards Bill and Molly, who were arguing about Bill and his earring, which Scarlett recalled him getting several months earlier. Rather handsome it was, though she'd never say it out loud.

"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure." Bill said patiently to his mother.

"And your hair's getting silly, dear. I wish you'd let me give it a trim." Molly continued, reaching across the table to flip Bill's bangs out of his face.

"I like it." Ginny defended from the other side of Bill. "You're so old fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's."

Rolling her eyes again, Scarlett shifted to tune into the conversation about Quidditch that the twins and Charlie were having across the table from her.

"It's got to be Ireland." Charlie said thickly through a mouthful of potato."They flattened Peru in the semi-finals."

"Bulgaria have got Viktor Krum, though." Fred argued.

"Krum's one decent player, Ireland have got seven." Charlie said shortly. "I wish England had got through, though. That was embarrassing, that was."

"What happened?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten." Scarlett answered for Charlie. "Worst they ever played."

"And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland were slaughtered by Luxembourg." Charlie added.

"Don't forget that Egypt were taken out by France." Scarlett replied, suddenly gloomy. "That was right bloody miserable. It was off by three bloody points."

"Egypt?" Ron piped up, food nearly falling out of his mouth.

"Yeah. The Cairo Scorpions." Scarlett nodded. "I didn't start supporting them until Uganda was out, though."

"Uganda? Why the bloody hell do you support _them_?" Ron scoffed.

"Why not?" Scarlett challenged.

"Now you've buggered up, little brother. Charlie sniggered, no doubt catching the look in Scarlett's eye. "You've just challenged a woman who knows her Quidditch."

* * *

Eventually, Molly conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their desert, and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle.

Scarlett was nearly asleep on BIll's shoulder, her lack of sleep finally catching up to her, and the blue haired woman watched the proceedings through half-lidded eyes.

"Look at the time." Molly said suddenly, causing Scarlett to start. "You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you, you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Bill, Charlie, help Scarlett back up to your room, would you?- she's almost asleep as it is. And Harry, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup- the match went on for five days last time."

Scarlett hummed something, but given that she was so tired, she wasn't entirely sure it hadn't been a mumble.

"Uh huh. Come on Scar, just sit up a little for me." Bill replied calmly, shifting under her head.

"Mhm." she mumbled, dozily, shoving herself into what could possibly be considered a sitting position.

Bill huffed, moving Scarlett's arms for that they were around his neck before slipping his own under her legs and lifting her into a bridal style hold.

Charlie lifted a brow at the ease his brother handled the blue haired woman with, and as they stepped away from the table, he commented, "So, I'm going to assume that this happens often?"

"Every other night." Bill snorted. "I don't think she understands the concept of a bed."

"Do so." Scarlett grunted sleepily. "Just choose not to."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, too." Bill snorted. "I'm not convinced."

"Well you're a meany." Scarlett yawned.

"Go to sleep, Scar."

"Yes sir."


End file.
